Miss Newlin and Mrs. Ferrell's 4th grade classes
(Hallsville, Texas)


Mr. Pete got to play in a snow fort / slide in a little town in Quebec. You would all have a great time playing on this....
 


A picture of Mr Pete sitting on a lake.. I hope the ice is thick enough

Overcoming Obstacles

There was a couple of points in this trip where Mr. Pete could have given up and gone home... I would like the class to discuss some of the possible solutions to solving these obstacles and making the right decisions.

Scenario: Mr Pete is in a foreign country where most of the people speak a different language (french), his snowmobile has experienced an electrical problem that will require a special part to get running again. It is Saturday afternoon about 1 P.M. and Mr. Pete's snowmobile is broke down about 120 km from the nearest city and the motel where he will be staying.  He must get his snowmobile fixed by Sunday night or he will get left behind. Mr. Pete has the ability to work on the snowmobile if he has the right parts and tools. He also has a cell phone, an employee back in Longview that speaks french and a credit card and about 300 dollars in Canadian money. Here is a list of the Obstacles he had to overcome:

1) How does Mr. Pete get his snowmobile to the Hotel

2) Can't find a Snowmobile (Ski-doo) dealer open on the weekend with a Mechanic on duty.

3) None of the Dealers in the area that are open have the special part in stock.

4) The factory that made Mr. Pete's Ski-doo is only 4 hours away and a Service Rep can get the part and a special tool "to pull flywheel" to a town about 2 hours away.

5) Don't have a Car or Truck to go get part.

6) Discover on Sunday morning that he needs another tool "impact wrench" to get the nut off the end of the crankshaft, so he can pull the flywheel to replace the part. Most businesses are closed on Sunday in this part of Quebec.

7) It is about -24 c and too cold to work outside for more then just a few minutes.

8) At one point Mr. Pete thinks that he has messed up and ruined a part he was putting back on and gives up.... calling his Dad and telling him he is coming home..
 

What would you do ?????


Questions from the Class on February 13th, 2003
1. What is the best thing you've seen yet?
    ANSWER: The best thing I have seen is a view of the mountains and the Ocean at the same time... Beautiful!
Did you use anything to get out of the snow?
    ANSWER: Mostly our hands... we do carry small shovels, but only use them if the snow packed!
2. What if all your stuff doesn't work?  Carlton
     ANSWER: Carlton, since there was 20 people and 20 snowmobiles, the chance that all of them not working, including all the other stuff, would be almost impossible... and if that happen... we would build a fire and wait for help!
3. Luke. What if your communicating and your snowmobile breaks down?
      ANSWER: Luke, I don't understand your question, my snowmobile did break down and I will discuss the obstacles I had to overcome when I come visit your class again...
4. How many miles have you drove.Jeremy
   ANSWER: Jeremy, I drove my snowmobile 1992 miles, In total I will have traveled by bus, airplane, rental car, taxi, boat (ferry) and truck over 6000 miles since I left Texas
5. How did you fix your snowmobile?Hollie
 ANSWER: Hollie,  I will tell you when I visit your class, hopefully next week!
6. How did you get around while you where looking for your parts?Nick
 ANSWER: Nick, I had to take a taxi or rent a car...
7. How many hours do you think you have been gone? Bre
 ANSWER: Bre.. can you help me figure that out.. if I averaged 27 miles per hour and I traveled 1992 miles on my snowmobile, how many hours would that be ???
 8. Jason ...What if ya'll got lost ,and  your satellite phone didn't work?If you send up a flair, would anybody see it ??????
ANSWER: Jason, since there was 20 people and 20 snowmobiles, the chance that all of them not working, including the satellite phone and flares, would be almost impossible... and if that happen... we would build a fire and wait for our support team to send someone to look for us!
 


Here you see a couple of very rare "Snow Turtles" they climb up in the trees to bask in the sun... usually they blend in so well no one sees them!


Questions from the Class on February 11th, 2003

1. Katie- I know that you miss your family and friends and I also know that Sarah`s birthday is coming up Friday. Do you wish that you could be here with her ?
    ANSWER: Katie, I am flying back to texas on early Saturday morning on the day after Sarah's birthday... I hope I can get her present on the plane. I really miss my family and hope to see them soon...
2. John- How do communicate during a blizzard?
    ANSWER: John, When the wind is howling and the snow is blowing so hard you can't see 3 feet in front of your face, you stand really close and yell back and forth!
3 .Aydan- How did you get to Canada? And why didn't Sarah
come?
    ANSWER: Aydan, I flew from Gregg County airport to Dallas, I then flew to Detroit, Michigan and rode in  a car about 350 miles to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada.. I had to go through customs at the border and show my passport.
4.Karissa- If someone got sick, would you stop and rest or keep going?
    ANSWER: Karissa, we would all stop and rest for a while and then would continue.. If the person was really sick we would call for help on the Satellite phone.. like we did for my mom "Betty"


Questions from the Class on February 9th, 2003

1. Brandon how do you talk to the people that can not hear?
    ANSWER: Brandon, Ron and Mike communicate with each other using sign language, they communicate with us by writing down on paper and then we write back... They have been using my computer to email their family and friends, since they can not use the phone...
2 .Do you have any idea who stole the truck?   Mallory
ANSWER: Unfortunately NO!  I lost a leather jacket, shoes, extra gloves, and cloths.
3. Tyler: What would you do if a ski on the snowmobile
            broke?
ANSWER: Tyler... if that happen we would have to stop and have someone go get another one.... I hope that does not happen
4. Adam: What did your father say to you about your
               snowmobile breaking down?
ANSWER: Adam.. My father was sad and frustrated because he was not here to help me...At one point I gave up and was going to come home, but he talked me out of it and helped me fix it, by telling me what to do over the phone

Can you tell me what this sign says ??


Questions from the Class on February 6th, 2003

1. Emily- Have you found your truck yet, if you haven't, when do think you can find it ?
ANSWER: Emily, the police have not found our truck and at this point do not believe they will. According to the police there has been a ring of thieves working this area of Canada for over 2 years... and they have not been caught

2. Kelsey- Where was the truck when it was stolen?
ANSWER: In the parking lot of the motel

3. Brennan-Where do you get your gas?
ANSWER: We travel through towns along the way each day... and stop about every 180 km

4.. Trey- Have you seen any more animals?
ANSWER: It's been pretty cold... the only animals I have seen are birds... I will keep looking .... they tell us we may be able to see whales off the coast in next few days..
 
 
 

What is this ????
 

Questions from the Class on February 6th, 2003
 

1.What day did Betty get hurt and how badly did she get hurt? How long will it take until she is back to her normal self? (Jesse)
 ANSWER: Betty got hurt on Monday, February 3rd, 2003 about 11:30 P.M. She broke her ankle, fractured 2 ribs and a concussion. She is going home from the hospital today. It will take about 2-3 months before she will be back to normal.... That is about the time she is coming to Texas to visit us... maybe I can get her to come in and visit the class...

2.How far did the snowmobile go in the snow? and may God bless  Betty. Was she thrown off her snowmobile? Did the snowmobile roll over her? (Kayce)
ANSWER: We  have gone 880 miles so far in 4 days.  Betty was thrown from her snowmobile, it did not roll on her.
Question: What is the average miles per day ?? What would a bar graph look like if we traveled 180 on monday, 300 on tuesday, 225 on wednesday, 183 on thursday?

3.If your snowmobile got stuck what would you do? (Madison)
ANSWER: We have a total of 20 people riding, everyone helps each other if they have a problem... when Betty's snowmobile was down in the ravine, about 10 guys pulled it out

4. How do you carry all the gas? (Tina)
ANSWER: Each snowmobile carries about 11 gallons of gas and can go about 120 miles before refilling... we stop about every 80 to 100 miles
Question: If there are 20 snowmobiles, what is the combined gas mileage (miles per gallon) of all the snowmobiles? How much gas do we use in a day ?

5. Have you ran out of gas ? (Ryan)
ANSWER: No, but a few of the other riders have... but we carry extra

 Questions from the Class on February 4th & 5th, 2003

1. How  much  snow  is  in  Canada?
ANSWER: That question is all relative.... depending where you are at the time... I have seen as much as 100 cm and as little as about 20 cm
Question: "how many feet is that ?" response "100 cm will be 3 ft and 8 1/2in; 20cm would be 8 inches" OK
2. How many animals have you seen?
ANSWER: Not counting some of the other riders, we have seen a fox and a snowshoe rabbit so far... I am surprised that we have not seen more ??
Question: "what kind of animals should I see in this part of Canada in the winter??" response "We guessed that you would see moose, wolves, coyotes, caribou, deer, reindeer, and mockingbirds" good, but caribou, reindeer are found in the northwest!
3. About how many miles have you traveled?
ANSWER: We have traveled about 710 miles so far
Question "how many Kilometers is that ???"
4. What is the fiercest animal you have seen?
ANSWER: That snowshoe rabbit looked like it had fangs ??? We did see moose tracks, they don't like people and have been known to attack.... I hope we don't see one that is angry!
5. About how deep was the ravine Betty went in to?
ANSWER: From the road to the bottom of the ravine was about 30 feet.

Bonus Question:

What kind of tree is the logs made of below and what would they use them for?


 

Questions from the Class on February 3rd, 2003

1. Which snowmobile are you on and what number are you?
    ANSWER: will post a picture of my Snowmobile on the web page in a couple of days... as far as what number I am, we are not assigned numbers, but I usually ride toward the back of the pack... somewhere around 17-19.... It really does not matter since it is not a race.
2  If an animal comes at you, what do you do?
   ANSWER: If I am on my snowmobile I would drive away... If not, I probably scream and yell and hold my ground or step toward it.... I would never run... that would only make it worst..
3 .Why do you need the flash light?
 ANSWER: In fact I had to use my flash light tonight... We got in late to the motel and I had to check my oil and get stuff off of the snowmobile to take in with me... it came in real handy to see in the dark.

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